The Wemmicks were small wooden people. Each of the wooden people was
carved by a woodworker named Eli. His workshop sat on a hill
overlooking their village. Every Wemmick was different. Some had bushy hair, some had big hands with long fingers, others had large eyes. Some were tall and others were short.
Some wore hats, others wore coats. But all were made by the same
carver and all lived in the village.

And all day, every day, the Wemmicks did the same thing: They gave
each other stickers. Each Wemmick had a box of golden star stickers
and a box of gray dot stickers. Up and down the streets all over the
city, people could be seen sticking stars or dots on one another.

The pretty ones, those with smooth wood and fine paint, always got
stars. But if the wood was rough or the paint chipped, the Wemmicks
gave dots. The talented ones got stars, too. Some could lift big
sticks high above their heads or jump over tall boxes. Still others
knew big words or could sing very pretty songs. Everyone gave them
stars.

Some Wemmicks had stars all over them! Every time they got a star it
made them feel so good that they did something else and got another
star. Others, though, could do little. They got dots.

Freddy was one of these. He tried to jump high like the others,
but he always fell. And when he fell, the others would gather around
and give him dots. Sometimes when he fell, it would scar his wood,
so the people would give him more dots. He would try to explain why
he fell and say something silly, and the Wemmicks would give him
more dots.

After a while he had so many dots that he didn't want to go outside.
He was afraid he would do something dumb such as forget his hat or
step in the water, and then people would give him another dot. In
fact, he had so many gray dots that some people would come up and
give him one without reason.

"He deserves lots of dots," the wooden people would agree with one
another.

"He's not a good wooden person."

After a while Freddy believed them. "I'm not a good Wemmick,"
he would say. The few times he went outside, he hung around other
Wemmicks who had a lot of dots. He felt better around them.

One day he met a Wemmick who was unlike any he'd ever met. She had
no dots or stars. She was just wooden. Her name was Cathy.

It wasn't that people didn't try to give her stickers; it's just
that the stickers didn't stick. Some admired Cathy for having no
dots, so they would run up and give her a star. But it would fall
off. Some would look down on her for having no stars, so they would
give her a dot. But it wouldn't stay either.

'That's the way I want to be,'thought Freddy. 'I don't want
anyone's marks.' So he asked the stickerless Wemmick how she did it.

"It's easy," Cathy replied. "every day I go see Eli."

"Eli?"

"Yes, Eli. The woodcarver. I sit in the workshop with him."

"Why?"

"Why don't you find out for yourself? Go up the hill. He's there. "

And with that the Wemmick with no marks turned and skipped away.

"But he won't want to see me!" Freddy cried out.

Cathy didn't hear. So Freddy went home. He sat near a window
and watched the wooden people as they scurried around giving each
other stars and dots.

"It's not right," he muttered to himself. And he resolved to go see
Eli.

He walked up the narrow path to the top of the hill and stepped into
the big shop. His wooden eyes widened at the size of everything. The
stool was as tall as he was. He had to stretch on his tiptoes to see
the top of the workbench. A hammer was as long as his arm.
Freddy swallowed hard.

"I'm not staying here!" and he turned to leave. Then he heard his
name.

"Freddy?" The voice was deep and strong.

Freddy stopped.

"Freddy! How good to see you. Come and let me have a look at
you."

Freddy turned slowly and looked at the large bearded craftsman.

"You know my name?" the little Wemmick asked.

"Of course I do. I made you."

Eli stooped down and picked Freddy up and set him on the bench. "Hmm, "
he spoke thoughtfully as he inspected the gray circles. "Looks like
you've been given some bad marks."

"I didn't mean to, Eli. I really tried hard."

"Oh, you don't have to defend yourself to me. I don't care what the
other Wemmicks think."

"You don't?"

"No, and you shouldn't either. Who are they to give stars or dots?
They're Wemmicks just like you. What they think doesn't matter,
Freddy. All that matters is what I think. And I think you are
pretty special."